It was ordered by william the conqueror the winner of the recent battle of hastings so that william could determine how much money in taxes he could raise and to give william a better sense of the territory he had just conquered. Tes global ltd is registered in england company no 02017289 with its registered office. Along with a string of castles throughout england, the domesday book was to give william huge. The domesday book shows medieval society was much more complicated than this, and historians nowadays do not believe. The feudal system was a way of organising society into different groups based on their roles. Bbc ks3 bitesize history feudal system, domesday book, history.
It had the king at the top with all of the control, and the. For most english villages and towns but not, unfortunately, london and winchester, for which no domesday records survive, domesday is the starting point of their history. Why it was written and what was involved in making it. Horrible histories measly middle ages new census for the. To record the value of each estate land owned by an individual. It had the king at the top with all of the control, and the peasants at the bottom doing all of the work.
Domesday book is kept at the national archives in london. It was ordered by william the conqueror the winner of the. Horrible histories measly middle ages new census for the domesday book william the conqueror fun. Barons the king gave some land to the barons in return for money and men for the army. For historians of anglonorman england, the survey is of immeasurable importance. Domesday book was kept in the royal treasury in winchester until the th century ce, when it was moved to london. Aimed at students studying at uk year 7 or equivalent. The domesday book is closely linked with william the conquerors attempt to dominate medieval england. This short three minute video covers what the domesday book is. Learn and revise what the feudal system was and how society was broken up into it with bbc bitesize ks3 history.
The domesday book is one of medieval englands greatest treasures. The records it contained were consulted and quoted in legal cases throughout the middle ages and even later, so much so that the very name domesday book acquired a power of its own as it came to represent an ultimate authority of recordkeeping. The results created whats known as the domesday book. When william secured control over england after defeating harold at the battle of hastings, he introduced new ways of running th. He sent officials all over england to assess and value the wealth of the land and who owned it.
Ks3 the feudal system and the domesday book the feudal system was a way of organising society into different groups based on their roles. The domesday book was designed to perform three key functions. William the conqueror, one of the kings in the middle ages, created the domesday book 1086. After the conquest huge amounts of land in england changed hands and a record of these changes was needed to keep track. Domesday book the domesday book was a survey designed to record everything that people owned in england. Ks3 history the norman conquest, domesday book, anglo saxon england, norman england fully resources lesson investigating the causes, details and importance of the domesday book to williams rule and control of england create your own domesday booklet which students write in for the lesson requires blank a3 paper local history focus for southport meols which could be amended to your local. The domesday book is a record of an enormous survey carried out in england for king william i the conqueror, and it was completed in the year 1086. This website and its content is subject to our terms and conditions. Ks3 history the norman conquest, domesday book, anglo saxon england, norman england fully resources lesson investigating the causes.